The "New Dawn" rose in my front garden, which is about to celebrate its 6th year of life, is one meaningful plant--I planted it when my husband was deployed with the Army to the Middle East in 2003, and its annual budding has come to symbolize the strength and survival that we both found during that tough year.
One of Rob's best friends had come up to visit, lo these many years ago, and together we ventured out into the garden to dig, plant, feed, and water the tiny plant. Each year when it blooms, we send our friend a picture to mark the occasion. Each year, the rose climbs higher up our porch, sports more blossoms, and marks the passing of time with its fragrant pink-ness.
This year's bloom is bittersweet, as we're getting ready to move. Our condo, as a matter of fact, is going on the market this coming weekend. And guess what visitors to the open house will see as they climb the front steps? As if on cue, here comes the pink:
Hopefully the new owners will somehow intuit that this is more than a climbing rose, more than a pretty plant. This is strength incarnate, a monument to friendship, to support, and to survival.
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